Systems and methods for recording programs using a network recording device as supplemental storage

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for recording programs using a user&#39;s equipment and a network recording device are provided. An interactive television application may determine whether the user&#39;s equipment has sufficient resources (e.g., tuners or space) to record a program selected for recording. If the interactive television application determines that the user&#39;s equipment does not have sufficient resources, the interactive television application may select, automatically or in response to a user instruction, the program for recording with a network recording device. In some embodiments, the user may have to pay for the use of the network recording device, or may be required to purchase a given tier level of service. The interactive television application may play back programs from the network recording device as VOD offerings, or may direct the network recording device to transfer recorded programs to the user&#39;s equipment when it has sufficient resources.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to systems and methods for recording programson a network recording device when a user's local equipment lackssufficient resources to do so.

Recording devices, such as digital video recording (DVR) devices, arewell known in the art. Some DVR systems may include multiple tuners forsimultaneously recording multiple programs. Such systems, however, canonly simultaneously record as many programs as they have tunersavailable, because each tuner only records one program at a time. If auser's DVR system has two tuners and the user would like to record, forexample, three NCAA tournament college basketball games that are beingplayed at the same time, the user would be forced to choose two of thegames for recording and not record the third game.

Available storage space is also a constraint on a DVR's ability torecord programs. When sufficient space is unavailable for a recording,the user must either cancel the recording or delete a recording from theDVR. Additionally, bandwidth limitations may be a constraint onsimultaneously recording multiple programs. For example, the aggregatebandwidth required of the hard disk in a DVR may limit the ability of aDVR device to record more than a certain number of programssimultaneously.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide digital recording systemsand methods for recording more programs than the system has resources torecord.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This and other objects of the present invention are accomplished inaccordance with the principles of the present invention by providingsystems and methods for recording programs on a network recording devicewhen a user's local equipment lacks sufficient resources to do so.

The user's equipment includes an interactive television application,such as an interactive program guide. The interactive televisionapplication allows the user to initiate or schedule programs forrecording by a recording device, also included in the user's equipment.At an appropriate time (e.g., when a recording is scheduled orinitiated, or at a time prior to performing a recording), theinteractive television application determines whether the user'sequipment has sufficient resources to perform its recordings. Forexample, the interactive television application may determine whetherthere will be a sufficient number of tuners free for recording programssimultaneously, or may determine whether the recording device will havesufficient space for recording programs over a given period of time.

If the user's equipment lacks sufficient resources to perform one ormore of the recordings, the interactive television application transmitsa request to a remote network recording device to perform the recordingor recordings. The network recording device may respond to the requestby recording the program(s) or, in some embodiments, by holding analready-stored program for the user (e.g., programs already recorded asa consequence of a similar request from another user's equipment on thesame network). The interactive television application may subsequentlyallow the user to play back the programs from the remote networkrecording device, or download the programs from the network recordingdevice when resources are available and store them locally for playback.

The interactive television application may select which recordings toperform locally, and which recordings to perform on the networkrecording device, using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, theinteractive television application prompts the user to indicate whichrecordings to perform locally or on the network recording device. Insome embodiments, the interactive television application automaticallyselects which recordings to perform locally or on the network recordingdevice based on, for example, whether or not programs are alreadyrecorded by the network recording device, recording options (e.g., arecording priority) or characteristics (e.g., theme, actor) of theprograms scheduled for recording. In some embodiments, the networkrecording device may record programs that it anticipates will berequested. The network recording device may identify such programs by,for example, a trending algorithm run on present or historical requests,and/or thresholding the number of requests for a program (e.g., actualnumber of requests or as compared to the number of requests for anotherprogram).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention, its nature andvarious advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an illustrative interactive television system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative display screen showing television listingsin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative display screen showing information relatingto a television program in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative display screen showing a television programin full screen after a recording has commenced in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative display screen showing recording options inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative display screen showing an illustrativeconflict notice for the user's equipment in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative display screen showing a recommendation forrecording program with a network recording device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative display screen showing a listing ofrecorded programs in accordance with one embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of an illustrative process for performing arecording with a network recording device when the user's equipmentlacks sufficient resources to perform the recordings in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of an illustrative process for performing aplurality of recordings with a network recording device when the user'sequipment lacks sufficient resources to perform the plurality ofrecordings in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11-12 show flow charts of illustrative processes for selectingwhether to record a program with a network recording device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of an illustrative process for determiningwhether to record a program with the network recording device based onthe programs already recorded with the network recording device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of an illustrative process for distributingrecordings over the user's equipment and the network recording device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows illustrative interactive television system 100 inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. User equipment 110receives content in the form of signals from content source 120 overcommunications path 122. In practice there may be multiple contentsources 120 and user equipment 110, but only one of each has been shownin FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing.

Content source 120 may be any suitable content source such as, forexample, a cable system headend, satellite television distributionfacility, television broadcast facility, on-demand server (e.g., VODserver), Internet-based server, IPTV server, or any other suitablefacility or system for originating or distributing content. Contentsource 120 may be configured to transmit signals over any suitablecommunications path 122 including, for example, a satellite path, afiber-optic path, a cable path, or any other suitable wired or wirelesspath. The signals may carry any suitable content such as, for example,television programs, music, news, web services, games, applications, orany other suitable content.

User equipment 110 may include any equipment suitable for providing aninteractive television experience. User equipment 110 may includetelevision equipment such as a television, set-top box, game machine,recording device, video player, user input device (e.g., remote control,keyboard, mouse, touch pad, touch screen and voice recognitioninterface) or any other device suitable for providing an interactivetelevision experience. For example, user equipment 110 may include a DCT1200, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 set-top box provided by Motorola, Inc. Insome embodiments, user equipment 110 may include computer equipment,such as a personal computer with a television card (PCTV).

In the example of FIG. 1, user equipment 110 includes at least controlcircuitry 180, display device 120, recording device 140, and user inputdevice 116, which may be implemented as separate devices or as a singledevice. An interactive television application, such as an interactivetelevision program guide, may be implemented on user equipment 110 todisplay, on display device 120, the content transmitted by contentsource 120 over path 122 and to provide interactive televisionapplication features.

Recording device 140 may be a personal video recorder (PVR), digitalvideo recorder (DVR), video cassette recorder (VCR), DVD-recorder, orany other suitable video recorder. Recording device 140 may include oneor more tuners.

Display device 120 may be any suitable device such as, for example, atelevision monitor or a computer monitor. Display device 120 may also beconfigured to provide for the output of audio.

Control circuitry 180 is adapted to receive user inputs from inputdevice 116 and execute the instructions of the interactive televisionapplication. Control circuitry 180 may include one or more tuners (e.g.,analog or digital tuners), encoders and decoders, decrypters, processors(e.g., MIPS family processors), memory (e.g., RAM and hard disks),communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem circuitry), input/outputcircuitry (e.g., graphics circuitry or display adapter), connections tothe various devices of user equipment 110, and any other suitablecomponent for providing analog or digital television programming,program recording, and interactive television features. In someembodiments, control circuitry 180 may be included as part of one of thedevices of user equipment 110 such as, for example, part of recordingdevice 140, display 120, or any other device (e.g., a set-top box,television and/or video player).

Any suitable number of users may have equipment, such as user equipment110, connected to content source 120 and one or more data source 124.But for the clarity of the figure, the equipment of only a single useris shown. The equipment of the plurality of users may be connected tocontent source 120 and data source 124 using a cable television networkor any other suitable means. In some embodiments, the equipment of theplurality of users may be connected to each other using any suitablemeans (e.g., home network or Internet via broadband cable modem).

User equipment 110 may receive interactive television application datafrom one or more data sources 124. Data sources 124 may provide data fora particular type of content or for a particular application. Forexample, one data source 124 may provide data for non-on-demand assets(e.g., non-pay and pay-per-view television programs), and another mayprovide data for on-demand assets (e.g., VOD programs). Or, for example,a single data source may provide both of these types of data. Forexample, one data source 124 may provide data for an interactivetelevision program guide. Another data source 124 may, for example,provide data for another interactive television application running onuser equipment 110 (e.g., a home shopping application). In someembodiments, data sources 124 may provide data to the interactivetelevision application using a client/server approach. There may be oneserver per data source, one for all sources or, in some embodiments, asingle server may communicate as a proxy between user equipment 110 andvarious data sources 124.

FIG. 1 shows content source 120 and data sources 124 as separateelements. In practice, their functionality may be combined and providedfrom a single system at a single facility, or multiple systems atmultiple facilities. For example, one content source 120 and data source124 may be combined to provide VOD content and associated VOD data.

Illustrative interactive television system 100 includes networkrecording device 130. Network recording device 130 may be any suitabletype of recording device including, for example, a PVR, DVR,DVD-recorder, hard-drive arrays, a server, or any other suitable devicefor recording program selected by one or more instances of userequipment 110. In some embodiments, network recording device 130 may bea standalone device, part of user equipment 110, part of content source120, part of any other device in interactive television system 100, or acombination of any of the above.

Network recording device 130 may include control circuitry and a storagedevice for performing at least recording operations. For example,network recording device 130 includes at least control circuitry 132 andstorage device 134. Control circuitry 132 may include one or moretuners, processors, memory (e.g., RAM), communications circuitry,connections to the various devices of interactive television system 100,and any other suitable component. Control circuitry 132 receivesinstructions from the interactive television application on one or moreinstances of user equipment 110. The instructions may include, forexample, recording programs, deleting programs, generating a stream totransmit programs, (e.g., as VOD offerings), modifying the deletingpriorities, or any other suitable instruction(s).

In response to receiving instructions from the interactive televisionapplication, control circuitry 132 directs tuners to tune to channelscarrying programs requested for recording by other devices ofinteractive television system 100 (e.g., by user equipment 110) andrecords the programs in storage device 134. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry 132 stores in storage device 134 information related torecorded programs such as, for example, recording options, recordingattributes, deleting options, instructions from devices of interactivetelevision system 100, or any other suitable information. In someembodiments, network recording device 130 may access (e.g., via ftp overan IP network) the content directly from content source 120 withoutrequiring a tuner.

FIG. 2 shows illustrative program guide screen 200 that may be displayedon display 120. The user may access program guide screen 200 by anysuitable means such as, for example, pressing a “menu,” “guide,” orother suitable key or key sequence on user input device 116, navigatingfrom another program guide screen or menu, or by any other means knownin the art. Illustrative program guide screen 200 contains a grid ofprogram listings 210, which includes program titles, channels, scheduledbroadcast times. The screen may include any other suitable programinformation. In other embodiments, the program guide screen may includea list (i.e., a single column) of programs. The user may select adesired program listing with highlight region 212 using user input 116,or any other suitable means.

To schedule a program or other suitable video for recording, a user mayhighlight a desired program, as shown in FIG. 2 where “Biography” onchannel 28 is highlighted, and press a “Record” key or key sequence, orselect a “Record” option from the screen using user input device 116.Any suitable device from user equipment 110, for example recordingdevice 140, may record the program. In response to receiving aninstruction to record the program, the interactive televisionapplication may place icon 216 on the listing associated with theselected program to indicate to the user that the interactive televisionapplication has scheduled the program for recording (e.g., in FIG. 2,Biography, Inside Stuff and Men In Black are scheduled for recording atthe same time).

Prior to choosing to record a program, the user may request additionalinformation regarding the program. For example, the user may highlight alisting using highlight region 212 and press an “Information” key or keysequence on user input device 116. In response to receiving the userrequest, the interactive television application may display aninformation screen. FIG. 3 shows illustrative information screen 300,which includes detailed information section 302, program descriptionarea 304 (including the program title, time and channel), and videowindow 306. Screen 300 also includes selectable icons 310, some or allof which may include text descriptions. The screen may include optionsfor recording, series recording, parental lock, or any other suitableinteractive television application action. If a user determines that hewants to record the program, the user may schedule the recording bypressing a “Record” key or key sequence, selecting a “Record” optionfrom the screen using a user input device (e.g., user input device 116),or by any other suitable means.

In some embodiments, the user may be watching a program on displaydevice 120 in a full screen view, for example full screen view 400 shownin FIG. 4, and decide to record the program. To record the program, theuser may press a “Record” key or key sequence on user input device 116,or use any other suitable means. A pop-up notice, such as pop-up notice402, may appear to confirm that recording has begun. Such a notice mayalso appear in response to receiving a user confirmation to record theprogram (e.g., in response to a user confirming the recording with menu502 of FIG. 5). In some embodiments, pop-up notice 402 may appearautomatically when a previously-scheduled recording commences.

In some embodiments, the interactive television application may promptthe user to set recording options for the program. For example, theinteractive television application may display a screen or pop-up, suchas recording options screen 500 shown in FIG. 5. Recording optionsscreen 500 includes pop-up menu 502, which includes a plurality ofrecording options 504. Recording options 504 include the transmissiontype, resolution, recording priority, start buffer length, when the userintends on viewing the program, and how long to save the copy. In someembodiments, the recording options pop-up menu may include any othersuitable recording option (e.g., end buffer length, how many copies torecord and which channel to record). In some embodiments, theinteractive television application may automatically set recordingoptions for the program.

At an appropriate time (e.g., when a recording is scheduled orinitiated, or at a time prior to performing a recording), theinteractive television application determines whether the user'sequipment has sufficient resources to perform its recordings. Forexample, the interactive television application may determine whetherthe user's equipment has enough tuners available to record multipleprograms simultaneously. The interactive television application maydetermine tuner availability based on current, scheduled, or anticipateduses (determined, for example, from user viewing habits) of the tunersin the user's equipment. As another example, the interactive televisionapplication may determine whether the recording device of the user'sequipment has enough space to perform its recordings. The interactivetelevision application may determine whether the recording device hasenough space by comparing the space available for recording programswith the estimated space required for performing each current orscheduled recording.

In response to determining that the user's equipment does not havesufficient resources to perform its recordings, the interactivetelevision application transmits a request to the network recordingdevice to perform one or more of the recordings. The request may be, forexample, an indication that the user's equipment does not havesufficient resources to perform one or more of the recordings. Inresponse to the request, the network recording device may perform one ormore of the recordings, or hold one or more already-recorded programsfor the user.

In some embodiments, when a user initiates a recording while viewing aprogram the interactive television application determines that theuser's equipment does not have sufficient resources for the recording,the interactive television application may automatically direct thenetwork recording device to perform the recording. This may allow for anuninterrupted viewing experience for the user. Alternatively, theinteractive television application may prompt the user for aninstruction to perform the recording with the network recording deviceor to make resources available to perform the recording locally.

In addition to transmitting the request to the network recording device,the interactive television application may cancel the local recordingsthat the network recording device performs. Alternatively, rather thancanceling the local recording, the interactive television applicationmay suspend the local recording in case resources become available priorto the transmission of the program. If resources do become available forperforming the recording, the interactive television application maycancel the recording with the network recording device and remove thesuspension on the local recording of the program.

The interactive television application may, in response to determiningthat the user's equipment does not have sufficient resources to performall of its recordings, select which programs to record locally with theuser's equipment and which programs to record remotely with the networkrecording device. In some embodiments, this selection is madeautomatically. The interactive television application may use anysuitable criteria for making the selection. For example, the interactivetelevision application may determine to perform a particular recordingwith the user's equipment or network recording device based on arecording option (e.g., recording priority), the transmission type ofthe program (e.g., first run or re-run, digital or analog transmission),program theme (e.g., sporting event), whether the network recordingdevice has access to the program or has already recorded the program,whether the program has already been recorded or requested to berecorded with the network recording device by the user's equipment oranother device, or based on any other suitable criteria.

In some embodiments, the user may set a global option that instructs theinteractive television application to request the network recordingdevice to perform recordings for programs satisfying particularcriteria. The criteria may include, for example, a recording option(e.g., recording priority), the transmission type of the program (e.g.,first run or re-run, digital or analog transmission), program theme(e.g., sporting event), whether the program has already been recordedwith the network recording device, or any other suitable criteria. Theglobal setting may instruct the interactive television application toautomatically purchase space on the network recording device if it isnecessary to record a program. In some embodiments, the user may setmore restrictive criteria for recording programs on the networkrecording device when purchasing additional space is necessary and/orexpensive. In embodiments where each user is provided a particularamount of network storage (e.g., as a function of tier of service) andadditional storage may be purchased, criteria for recording a programwith the network recording device may include whether or not and/or howmuch purchased network recording space would be used on a user-by-userbasis (e.g., depending on the user's budget).

In some embodiments, the interactive television application may promptthe user for an indication of whether to perform one or more recordingswith the user's equipment or the network recording device. One suitableprompt may be conflict notice 600, shown in FIG. 6.

Notice 600 includes description section 602 and listing 610. Descriptionsection 602 indicates to the user that the user's equipment hasinsufficient resources and cannot record all of the programs originallyscheduled. In some embodiments, the description section may include anindication of which resource is lacking (e.g., not enough tunersavailable or not enough space). Description section 610 prompts the userto select two programs to record locally, with the user's equipment.Description section 610 also prompts the user to select programs torecord with a network recording device. In some embodiments, thedescription section may also describe a default action.

Listings 610 include the program name, channel number and transmissiontime. The listings may include any other suitable information including,for example, channel name, transmission date, actors, brief description,or any other suitable information. The user may select a listing bycontrolling highlighted region 612 with user input device 116. To selecta program for recording with the user's equipment, the user mayhighlight the listing associated with the program and select a “Recordlocally” option (e.g., button 616). Similarly, to select a program forrecording with the network recording device, the user may highlight thelisting associated with the program and select a “Record remotely”option (e.g., button 618).

In some embodiments, the interactive television application mayrecommend to the user which programs to record with the networkrecording device and which programs to record with the user's equipment.For example, the interactive television application may determinewhether the network recording device has already recorded a program. Ifa recorded program is identified, the interactive television applicationmay recommend to the user that the program not be recorded with theuser's equipment, but instead be saved by the network recording devicefor the user (see for example, recommendation notice 700 of FIG. 7). Inresponse to receiving a user designation to have a program saved by thenetwork recording device, the interactive television application may,for example, direct control circuitry 132 to modify an entry of storagedevice 134 that is associated with the previously recorded program(e.g., set the deleting priority of the program to “do not delete,” “donot flush,” or “save”).

The interactive television application may determine whether a programselected for recording is already recorded with the network recordingdevice in any suitable manner. For example, the interactive televisionapplication may request and receive from the network recording device alist of already recorded programs with the network recording device, andcompare those programs to the programs selected for recording with theuser's equipment that the user's equipment does not have sufficientresources to record. The interactive television application may thendirect the network recording device to save the programs that are bothalready recorded with the network recording device and originallyselected for recording with the user's equipment.

As another example of an approach for determining whether a programselected for recording is already recorded with the network recordingdevice, the network recording device may receive from the interactivetelevision application a list of programs selected for recording thatthe user's equipment does not have the resources to record. The networkrecording device may then compare the selected programs with theprograms that are already recorded with the network recording device,and save for the user the selected programs that are already recordedwith the network recording device. The network recording device may alsodirect the interactive television application to cancel or suspend thecorresponding recordings with the user's equipment.

In some embodiments, the interactive television application maydetermine, either automatically or in response to receiving a noticefrom the network recording device, that the network recording devicecannot or will not perform a recording for a particular program. Theinteractive television application may then, in response to thedetermination, recommend that the user's equipment perform therecording. For example, the network recording device may lack sufficientresources (e.g., when the network recording device is an additionalrecording device of the user's equipment) to record the program. Asanother example, the network recording device may be subject to legallimitations on which programs it may record (e.g., due to agreementsbetween the providers of the content source and the network recordingdevice). Alternatively, if the network recording device will not recorda program, the interactive television application may perform a functionto enable the network recording device to record the program (e.g.,purchase additional storage space on the network recording device).

The user or the interactive television application may select whichrecordings are performed by which device to attempt to maximize anysuitable criteria. For example, the criteria may include maximizing theuse of the user's equipment's resources (e.g., tuners and/or space) andminimizing the user's use of the network recording device. This may beadvantageous to minimize the user's costs for performing recordings. Asanother example, the criteria may include minimizing the total use ofresources of the network recording device. The interactive televisionapplication would then direct the user's equipment to record theprograms that are not already recorded with the network recordingdevice, and direct the network recording device to save the alreadyrecorded programs. As still another example, the criteria may includerecording programs that have a higher recording priority with the user'sequipment and programs with a lower recording priority with the networkrecording device.

In some embodiments, the interactive television application maydifferentiate for the user the recordings that the user's equipment willperform and the recordings that the network recording device willperform using any suitable means including, for example, placing acolored border around the listings, changing the color of the listing(e.g., colored region 614 in FIG. 6), changing the font of the listing,displaying an icon by the listing, or any other suitable means. The usermay confirm which recordings to perform with the user's equipment andnetwork recording device by selecting a record option from notice 600(e.g., icon 620), or may instead cancel which recordings to perform withthe user's equipment and network recording device by selecting a canceloption (e.g., icon 622).

In some embodiments, the service provider operating the networkrecording device may charge a fee for every recording the networkrecording device performs on behalf of the user. As another example, thenetwork recording device may charge a daily, weekly, or monthly fee forunlimited recording, or for a performing a certain number of recordings.As still another example, the amount of space that the user may use onthe network recording device may depend on the tier of service purchasedby the user (e.g., silver member, gold member). Users having purchasedthe highest tier of service may perform more recordings with the networkrecording device than users having purchased the lowest tier of service.

The interactive television application may prompt the user for personalinformation required to purchase additional storage space on the networkrecording device (e.g., a higher tier of service) from the serviceprovider when the user has exceeded the amount of space allotted to him.In response, the user may enter a PIN or other information to completethe purchase. Once the purchase has been completed, the service providermay release the additional space to the user.

The interactive television application may display a recorded programsmenu for the user to view recordings performed by the user's equipmentand the network recording device. One such menu is menu 800 shown inFIG. 8, which a user may access by pressing a “Recorded Programs Menu”key or key sequence, navigating from another interactive televisionapplication screen (e.g., selecting a “Recorded Programs Menu” optionfrom an interactive television application screen using user inputdevice 116), or by any other suitable means. Menu 800 includes recordedprograms listings 802, detailed information section 804 and video window806. Listings 802 include program length, program title, channel number.The listings may include any other suitable information.

In some embodiments, the listings may include both programs recordedwith the user's equipment and programs recorded with the networkrecording device. In some embodiments, the interactive televisionapplication may distinguish the programs recorded with each recordingdevice by marking the listings associated with programs recorded withthe user's equipment or recorded with the network recording device(e.g., by placing an icon such as icon 808 besides the listing, placinga colored border around the listing, changing the color of the listingor changing the font of the listing). Alternatively, the listings forprograms recorded with each device may be separate (e.g., two sets oflistings, one for the user's equipment and one for the network recordingdevice). In some embodiments, the interactive television application maynot differentiate between the programs so as to keep the display assimple as possible for the user. In some applications, some or all ofthe programs that the network recording device has recorded on behalf ofother users of the network are displayed to the user. The interactivetelevision application may use any suitable filter to limit the numberof programs recorded on behalf of other users that are displayed. Thefilter may be a recommendation engine (e.g., similar to the personal VODand PPV recommendation engine provided by ChoiceStream of Cambridge,Mass.).

To play back a recorded program, the user may select the listingassociated with the program from listings 802. If the selected programwas recorded with the user's equipment, the interactive televisionapplication may direct the user's equipment to play back the program by,for example, directing the display device to display the selectedprogram.

If, however, the selected program were recorded with the networkrecording device, the network recording device may transmit the programto the interactive television application in preparation for localplayback. For example, in response to a request to play back theprogram, the network recording device may provide the program to theuser as a VOD offering and transmit the program to the user's equipmentas a stream. As another example, the network recorder may transfer theprogram to the user's equipment for the interactive televisionapplication to play back the program locally (provided the user'sequipment has sufficient resources to receive the program).

During the course of operation, the interactive television applicationmay free resources by, for example, deleting recorded programs. Forexample, the interactive television application may delete programs thatare stored on both the user's equipment and the network recording device(e.g., programs that the network recording device recorded on behalf ofanother user) and that are being held by the network recording devicefor the user. The interactive television application may alsoautodiscover or autoconfigure additional storage devices, and addadditional storage space (e.g., by automounting a hard drive orautodiscovering additional recording devices that have been added to theuser's equipment). The interactive television application may thendetermine whether the freed resources are sufficient to transfer aprogram from the network recording device to the user's equipment.Alternatively, the interactive television application may periodicallydetermine whether the user's equipment has sufficient free resources fortransferring a program. In response to determining that the user'sequipment has sufficient resources, the interactive televisionapplication may, automatically or in response to a user's instruction,transfer a program from the network recording device to the user'sequipment. This may be advantageous, for example, when a user pays forthe time the network recording device is used. Once a program istransferred, the interactive television application may direct thenetwork recording device to delete the program or remove the previouslyset “do not delete” deleting priority.

Other uses for a combination of a network recording device and a user'sequipment are described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser.No. ______, filed Nov. 4, 2005, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORRECORDING PROGRAMS WITH A NETWORK RECORDING DEVICE UPON FAILURE OF AUSER'S EQUIPMENT,” and incorporated herein in its entirety.

The following flow charts serve to illustrate processes involved in someembodiments of this invention. FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an illustrativeprocess for performing a recording using a network recording device whenthe user's equipment does not have sufficient resources. Process 900begins at step 902. At step 910, the interactive television determineswhether performing a recording would exceed the resources of userequipment 110 (FIG. 1). For example, the interactive televisionapplication may determine whether user equipment 110 has enough tunersand enough space available to perform the recording. The interactivetelevision application may identify current, scheduled and anticipateduses of the resources of the user's equipment to determine whether theuser's equipment will have sufficient resources. The interactivetelevision application may perform step 910 any number of times and atany time up to the transmission time of the program.

If the interactive television application determines that performing therecording would not exceed the resources of user equipment 110, process900 moves to step 920, where the interactive television applicationdirects user equipment 110 to perform the recording. If instead theinteractive television application determines that performing therecording would exceed the resources of user equipment 110, process 900moves to step 930. At step 930, network recording device 130 (FIG. 1)performs the recording. Process 900 ends at step 932.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an illustrative process for recording aprogram using a network recording device when the user's equipment doesnot have sufficient resources. Process 1000 starts at step 1002. At step1010, the interactive television application determines whetherperforming a plurality of recordings would exceed the resources of userequipment 110 (FIG. 1). For example, the interactive televisionapplication may determine whether user equipment 110 has enough tunersand enough space available to perform the recording. If the interactivetelevision application determines that performing the recording wouldnot exceed the resources of user equipment 110, process 1000 moves tostep 1020.

At step 1020, the interactive television application determines whetherthe recordings will start imminently. If the interactive televisionapplication determines that the recordings will start imminently (e.g.,a few minutes before the recordings are to start), process 1000 moves tostep 1025 where user equipment 110 performs the recordings. If insteadthe interactive television application determines that the recordingswill not start imminently, process 1000 moves back to step 1010 todetermine whether there has been a change in the resources available tothe user's equipment for performing the plurality of recordings.

If, at step 1010, the interactive television application determines thatperforming the recording would exceed the resources of user equipment110, process 1000 moves to step 1030. At step 1030, the interactivetelevision application selects one or more of the plurality ofrecordings to perform with network recording device 130 (FIG. 1). Step1030 may be a predefined process such as, for example, process 1100(FIG. 11) or process 1200 (FIG. 12). At step 1040, the interactivetelevision application directs network recording device 130 to performthe recordings selected at step 1030. At step 1050, the interactivetelevision application directs user equipment 110 to suspend performingthe selected recordings.

At step 1060, the interactive television application determines whetherthe network recording device has performed the selected recordings. Ifthe interactive television application determines that the networkrecording device has performed the selected recordings, process 1000ends at step 1062. If instead the interactive television applicationdetermines that the network recording device has performed the selectedrecordings, process 1000 moves to step 1070.

At step 1070, the interactive television application determines whetheruser equipment 110 has sufficient resources to record one or more of theselected recordings. If the interactive television applicationdetermines that user equipment 110 does not have sufficient resources,process 1000 moves back to step 1060. If instead the interactivetelevision application determines that user equipment 110 has sufficientresources, process 1000 moves to step 1080. At step 1080, theinteractive television application removes the suspension from the oneor more of the selected recordings to all user equipment 110 to recordthose recordings. At step 1090, the interactive television applicationcancels performing the one or more of the selected recordings withnetwork recording device 130. Process 1000 then moves back to step 1010.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flow charts of illustrative processes for selectingone or more recordings from a plurality of recordings to perform withthe network recording device. Illustrative process 1100 thus takes placeduring step 1030 of process 1000. Process 1100 begins at step 1102,which is step 1010 of process 1000. At step 1110, the interactivetelevision application displays a conflict notice to the user informingthe user that one or more of a plurality of recordings cannot beperformed with user equipment 110 (FIG. 1). The conflict notice may alsoprompt the user to select one or more of the plurality of recordings toperform with network recording device 130 (FIG. 1) instead of userequipment 110. At step 1120, the interactive television application mayreceive a selection from the user to perform one or more of theplurality of recordings with network recording device 130.

At step 1130, the interactive television application determines whethernetwork recording device 130 has sufficient space allocated to the userto perform the selected one or more of the plurality of recordings. Ifthe interactive television application determines that network recordingdevice 130 has sufficient space, process 1100 moves to step 1140, atwhich the process 1100 returns to process 1000 and performs step 1040.If instead the interactive television application determines thatnetwork recording device 130 does not have sufficient space, process1100 moves to step 1150.

At step 1150, the interactive television application receives a userinstruction to purchase additional space on network recording device130. For example, the user may purchase additional space for theselected one or more of the plurality of recordings. As another example,the user may purchase a higher tier of service. The user may provide theinteractive television application with personal information (e.g., aPIN or a credit card number) to execute the purchase. At step 1160, theinteractive television application executes the purchase for more spaceon network recording device 130. At step 1170, process 1100 returns toprocess 1000 and performs step 1040.

Illustrative process 1200 takes place during step 1030 of process 1000.Process 1200 begins at step 1202, which is step 1010 of process 1000. Atstep 1210, the interactive television application determines whether theuser activated a global option to perform recordings satisfyingparticular criteria with network recording device 130 (FIG. 1). Theparticular criteria may include, for example, recording options, programattributes (e.g. program theme or actors), whether user equipment 110(FIG. 1) has sufficient resources to perform the recording, or any othersuitable criteria. If the interactive television application determinesthat the user did not active the global option, process 1200 moves tostep 1220, where no recordings are selected to be performed with networkrecoding device 130.

If, at step 1210, the interactive television application insteaddetermines that the user did active the global option, process 1200moves to step 1230. At step 1230, the interactive television applicationdetermines whether any of the plurality of recordings satisfies theparticular criteria for performing the recording with network recordingdevice 130. If the interactive television application determines thatnone of the programs satisfy the particular criteria, process 1230 movesto step 1220, described above. If instead the interactive televisionapplication determines that one or more of the recordings satisfy theparticular criteria, process 1200 moves to step 1240.

At step 1240, the interactive television application determines whethernetwork recording device 130 has sufficient space allocated to the userto perform the one or more recordings. If the interactive televisionapplication determines that network recording device 130 has sufficientspace, process 1200 moves to step 1250, at which process 1200 returns toprocess 1000 and performs step 1040. If instead the interactivetelevision application determines that network recording device 130 doesnot have sufficient space, process 1200 moves to step 1260.

At step 1260, the interactive television application automaticallyexecutes a purchase for additional space on network recording device130. For example, the interactive television application may use a PINprovided by the user when the user activated the global option toperform recordings satisfying particular criteria with network recordingdevice 130. In some embodiments, the global option may includeadditional criteria for authorizing a purchase of additional space. Insuch embodiments, the interactive television application may alsodetermine whether the one or more of the recordings satisfy theadditional criteria. At step 1270, process 1200 returns to process 1000and performs step 1040.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an illustrative process for determiningwhether to record a program with the network recording device based onthe programs already recorded with the network recording device.Illustrative process 1300 begins at step 1302. In some embodiments,process 1300 may take place between steps 1010 and 1030 of process 1000.In such embodiments, step 1302 is step 1010 of process 1000. At step1310, the interactive television application determines which programsnetwork recording device 130 (FIG. 1) has already recorded. To identifypreviously recorded programs, the interactive television applicationmay, for example, request and receive a list of the programs previouslyrecorded with network recording device 130. In one or more embodiments,network recording device 130 may automatically send the interactivetelevision application a list of the programs it has previouslyrecorded.

At step 1320, the interactive television application determines whethera program selected for recording with user equipment 110 (FIG. 1) hasalready been recorded with network recording device 130. If theinteractive television application determines that the program hasalready been recorded with network recording device 130, process 1300moves to step 1330. At step 1330, the interactive television applicationinstructs user equipment 110 not to record the program. At step 1340,the interactive television application instructs network recordingdevice 130 not to delete the program. For example, control circuitry 132(FIG. 1) of network recording device 130 may modify an entry associatedwith the programs in storage device 134 (FIG. 1) to set the deletingpriority of the program to “do not delete,” “do not flush,” or “save.”Process 1300 ends at step 1342.

If, at step 1320, the interactive television application insteaddetermines that the program has not already been recorded with networkrecording device 130, process 1300 moves to step 1350. At step 1350,process 1300 returns to process 1000 and performs step 1040.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of an illustrative process for distributingrecordings over the user's equipment and the network recording devicewhen the user's equipment does not have sufficient resources to performall of a plurality of recordings. In some embodiments, process 1400 maytake place between steps 1010 and 1030 of process 1000. Illustrativeprocess 1400 begins at step 1402. At step 1410, the interactivetelevision application determines whether user equipment 110 (FIG. 1)has sufficient resources to perform at least one of a plurality ofrecordings. If the interactive television application determines thatuser equipment 110 does not have sufficient resources to perform atleast one of a plurality of recordings, process 1430 moves to step 1420,at which process 1400 returns to process 1000 and performs step 1030(i.e., performing at least one of the recordings with network recordingdevice 130 (FIG. 1)).

If, at step 1410, the interactive television application insteaddetermines that user equipment 110 has sufficient resources to performat least one of a plurality of recordings, process 1400 moves to step1430. At step 1430, the interactive television application determineswhether at least one of the plurality of recordings satisfies particularcriteria. The criteria may include, for example, a recording option(e.g., recording priority), program attribute (e.g., theme or actor), orany other criteria. In some embodiments, the user may define thecriteria. If the interactive television application determines that noneof the plurality of recordings satisfies the particular criteria,process 1400 moves to step 1420, described above.

If, at step 1430, the interactive television application insteaddetermines that at least one of the plurality of recordings satisfiesparticular criteria, process 1400 moves to step 1440. At step 1440, theinteractive television application selects at least one of the pluralityof recordings that satisfies the particular criteria for recording withuser equipment 110.

At step 1450, the interactive television application directs userequipment 110 to perform the recordings selected at step 1440. At step1460, process 1400 returns to process 1000 and performs step 1030 on therecordings that were not selected to be performed with user equipment110, so as to avoid performing the same recording twice (once with eachof user equipment 110 and network recording device 130).

It will be noted that all of the features described above in connectionwith recording a program may be applied to recording a video-on-demandprogram, video clip, game, series of programs, or any other contentsuitable for recording and display by user equipment 110. In the case ofseries, the interactive television application may record multiplecopies of one, some, or all episodes of the series.

The above described embodiments of the present invention are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentinvention is limited only by the claims which follow.

1. A method for recording programs using a user's equipment and anetwork recording device comprising: determining whether performing arecording will exceed the resources of the user's equipment; and inresponse to determining that performing the recording will exceed theresources of the user's equipment, performing the recording with thenetwork recording device.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the resourcesinclude tuners and space for performing recordings.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: determining whether the user's equipment hassufficient resources to perform the recording; and in response todetermining that the user's equipment has sufficient resources toperform the recording, canceling performing the recording with thenetwork recording device and performing the recording with the user'sequipment.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining whetherperforming a recording will exceed the resources of the user's equipmentcomprises determining whether performing a plurality of recordings willexceed the resources of the user's equipment, the method furthercomprising; selecting, in response to determining that performing aplurality of recordings will exceed the resources of the user'sequipment, a first group of at least one of the plurality of recordingsand a second group of at least one of the plurality of recordings; andperforming the selected first group of recordings with the user'sequipment and performing the selected second group of recordings withthe network recording device.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein selectingthe first and second groups of recordings comprises receiving a userselection of at least one recording for inclusion in the first or secondgroups of recordings.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein selecting thefirst or second groups of recordings comprises automatically selectingat least one recording for inclusion in the first or second group basedon one or more criteria.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the one ormore criteria are at least one of a recording priority, a programattribute, and whether the recording has already been performed with thenetwork recording device.
 8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:receiving from the network recording device a list of recordings thatthe network recording device has already performed; comparing the listreceived from the network recording device with the recordings selectedto be performed with the user's equipment; and directing the networkrecording device to hold recordings selected to be performed with theuser's equipment that the network recording device has alreadyperformed.
 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving a userrequest to play back a program recorded with the network recordingdevice; receiving the requested program at the user's equipment as a VODoffering from the network recording device; and playing back the programat the user's equipment.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:transferring a recording originally performed with the network recordingdevice to the user's equipment; and deleting the transferred recordingfrom the network recording device.
 11. The method of claim 10 furthercomprising: determining whether the user's equipment has sufficientresources receive the recording; and wherein transferring the recordingto the user's equipment comprises transferring the recording to theuser's equipment in response to determining that the user's equipmenthas sufficient resources to receive the recording.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising receiving a user instruction to purchasespace in the network recording device to perform the recording.
 13. Amethod for recording programs using a user's equipment and a networkrecording device, comprising: receiving an instruction from the user'sequipment to perform a recording that would exceed the resources of theuser's equipment; and performing, in response to receiving theinstruction, the recording with the network recording device.
 14. Themethod of claim 13 further comprising: receiving a request from theuser's equipment to play back a program recorded with the networkrecording device; and providing the program to the user's equipment. 15.The method of claim 14 wherein providing the program to the user'sequipment comprises providing the program to the user's equipment as aVOD offering.
 16. A system for recording programs, the system comprisinga user's equipment, a network recording device and control circuitry,the control circuitry configured to: determine whether performing arecording will exceed the resources of the user's equipment; and inresponse to determining that performing the recording will exceed theresources of the user's equipment, direct the network recording deviceto perform the recording.
 17. The system of claim 16 wherein theresources include tuners and space for performing recordings.
 18. Thesystem of claim 16 wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: determine whether the user's equipment has sufficient resources toperform the recording; and direct, in response to determining that theuser's equipment has sufficient resources to perform the recording, thenetwork recording device to cancel performing the recording and directthe user's equipment to perform the recording.
 19. The system of claim16 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: determinewhether performing a plurality of recordings will exceed the resourcesof the user's equipment; select, in response to determining thatperforming a plurality of recordings will exceed the resources of theuser's equipment, a first group of at least one of the plurality ofrecordings and a second group of at least one of the plurality ofrecordings; and direct the user's equipment to perform the selectedfirst group of recordings and direct the network recording device toperform the selected second group of recordings.
 20. The system of claim19 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive a userselection of at least one recording for inclusion in the first or secondgroups of recordings.
 21. The system of claim 19 wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to automatically select at least onerecording for inclusion in the first or second group based on one ormore criteria.
 22. The system of claim 21 wherein the one or morecriteria are at least one of a recording priority, a program attribute,and whether the recording has already been performed with the networkrecording device.
 23. The system of claim 16 further comprising adisplay adapter, and wherein the control circuitry further configuredto: receive a user request to play back a program recorded with thenetwork recording device; receive the requested program at the user'sequipment as a VOD offering from the network recording device; anddirect the display adapter to output the program at the user'sequipment.
 24. The system of claim 16 wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to: transfer a recording originally performed withthe network recording device to the user's equipment; and delete thetransferred recording from the network recording device.
 25. The systemof claim 24 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:determine whether the user's equipment has sufficient resources receivethe recording; and transfer the recording to the user's equipment inresponse to determining that the user's equipment has sufficientresources to receive the recording.
 26. The system of claim 16 whereinthe control circuitry is further configured to receive a userinstruction to purchase space in the network recording device to performthe recording.